Westerners Seek Cheap Medical Care in Asia

tybee204

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By RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM, Associated Press Writer
Sat Sep 24, 7:20 PM ET



BOMBAY, India - Bradley Thayer, a retired apple farmer from Okanogan, Wash., traveled 7,500 miles to get his torn knee ligament fixed, and says he paid a third of what it would have cost him in a U.S. hospital. And that included air fare to Bombay.
Thayer, 60, had no health insurance when he fell and injured himself while summering in British Columbia. He says his U.S. doctors told him he would have to wait six months for surgery and pay bills totaling $35,000. So he joined a rising tide of American and European patients heading to India, Thailand and Singapore for top-class orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, infertility treatment and cardiology that come much cheaper than in the West.

It's the latest in outsourcing — Asian doctors study in the United States or Britain, acquire their skills and reputations in hospitals there, then take them back to their home countries and wait for the business to come to them.

More at link
 
I don't blame this guy at all. If he had the money to go elsewhere I say more power to him. I buy my zoloft from Canada because it is about 1/2 the cost.
I can't afford to buy it here in the US. I wonder when the hospitals, doctors, and drug companies here will catch on that people can't afford to pay such high prices. I know quite a few people that buy their meds in Canada. I keep hearing talk about stopping that. I sure hope that doesn't happen. As of this month we can still buy from Canada.

I'm disabled and have no medical for medication. I'll buy where I can get the best price and so far it isn't here. I bought a supplemental health insurance and that would help if I had to have surgery along with Medicare but I would still be left paying a huge part of the bill.

I think the US needs to take a good look at the prices we are charged by the medical profession and drug companies. The sad thing is though that the people who make the laws don't have to worry about paying for meds or doctor/hospital bills. Most of them have never had to worry about money so they have no understanding of those of us who do.
 
The attitude of the US people who makes these laws is akin to the attitude of: I can't understand why the people of New Orleans did not get into their brand new SUV's, put 100.00 worth of gas in the trunk, drive to a hotel and pay for it with their Gold Visa. Why did people CHOOSE to stay when they just could have left.

Their perception is only based in their limited sense of reality.

Remember GB saying that the RX from Canada were akin to buying your meds from India, that they are not sanitary, not of good quality, fake, etc.

Which of course is not true because we ship meds to the USA........

But legislation is proposed that may limit the amount and type of meds that citizens of the USA can buy in Canada. The reason why, is because it has become so popular, that Canada has and will become short on meds for our citizens.

But of course GB has to "spin" everything when the RX companies complain of decreased profits and USA citizens going to Canada to get cheaper drugs.....
 
People have been going to Sun City in South Africa for a long time.

Here's how it works:
You go to Sun City, get the work done, and then go on a long luxury "safari" while waiting for the bandages to come off and the bruises to heal. Then you come back to the states and deny having had "work done". After all, you just feel refreshed from your vacation, that's all. The work and the safari vacation cost less than just the work back in the USA.


...or so I hear.
 
Doctors and hospitals are primarily paid by insurance payments, except for plastic surgery, which people amazingly enough seem to happily come up with the cash for.

Once reason we are charged so much is because of the 30% that have no health insurance at all; and paying patients, along with their insurance companies, make up the difference.

Many people use the ER for their doctor, including immigrants at least in this state, and this goes unpaid; the hosptial must make up the difference.

Drugs are very expensive, part of this is corporate profits, extensive research and liability involved - take a gander at what's happening to Merk over Vioxx. It's a huge risk to even put out a drug that millions will be taking. Also these advertisements on the TV which ought to be outlawed.

We definitely need health care reform and maybe some form of national health care insurance; yes similar to what Congress has. But I doubt our country has the money for it right now, especially without higher taxes. Yes we need it worse than we need Social Security reform right now.
 
BirdieBoo said:
People have been going to Sun City in South Africa for a long time.

Here's how it works:
You go to Sun City, get the work done, and then go on a long luxury "safari" while waiting for the bandages to come off and the bruises to heal. Then you come back to the states and deny having had "work done". After all, you just feel refreshed from your vacation, that's all. The work and the safari vacation cost less than just the work back in the USA.


...or so I hear.
Much, much, less. The hospitals, are pure luxury--everyone gets their own private room, and private nurse, and what they do as outpatient surgery, here in the U.S., in Asia you will be taken care of in the luxury hospital for a week. They mentioned price comparisons: $85,000 here in the U.S. was only $12,500 there and that included an extra week of vacation beyond the hospital stay. There's a Swedish corporation that is building these places, and everything is first class, including the doctors.
 
Its definately something to consider. I'd be concerned though if something went wrong. They're not subject to our jurisdiction, so you probably have no remedy if someone dies or is disabled due to a procedure. They also don't have the access that we do to the doctor's history, etc.
 
True, Jeana, you make a very good point

I saw a program on the BBC of women who went to fromer Eastern Bloc countries like Poland, etc to get plastic surgery.

They booked either through word of mouth or a travel agent, I can't remember

But what they were lead to believe and what actually happened were far different.

To make a long story short: Some were disfigured, some had major infections, and some even died........because the conditions and the "doctors" were less then what would be required for surgery.........the hospital room was actually a "dirty" disgusting hotel room.

So I guess the moral of the story: Buyer beware, do your research and homework, investigate, get references and above all, watch out for your own health...........

Our ER's are used by the wrong people also, like a person with an earache. So now there are community doctors's, and walk in clinic's, after hours clinics, etc, but people still show up at ER with an ear ache, sore finger, headache.......that is one of the reason why our health system is going downhill...........
 

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